Marines to Deploy Troubled Osprey Aircraft

[Rose Siding]

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Marine Corps plans to send the troubled Osprey aircraft into combat zones within a year and is activating a squadron of the tilt-rotor planes this week.

"Obviously, due to operational concerns we don't want to tell exactly when they will deploy," said spokesman Master Sgt. Phil Mehringer at Marine Corps Air Station New River, where the squadron will be based. "But it's certainly going to happen in the near future. Definitely, within a year."
....
Four Marines died in a 2000 crash in North Carolina that was caused by a ruptured titanium hydraulic line. Nineteen others were killed in a crash that year in Arizona that investigators blamed on pilot error.

The Pentagon approved full production of the Osprey in a $19 billion program last year, and the Marines have been showing them off. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld flew aboard one last week.

Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263, which will carry the Vietnam-era "Thunder Chickens" nickname of the helicopter unit it is replacing, is to be formally activated Friday. There are about 250 people in the squadron and at least a dozen aircraft.......

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022700677.html

[MadMaddie]

1. Wow.....another crappy product....

and our soldiers have to die because of the war profiteering.

When all is said and done I hope that all of those that have enjoyed these last years of war profiteering go to jail for no less than 15-20 years.

$19 billlion in a failed program...

Once again if Rummy is involved it's going to be a complete failure....

[ChairmanAgnostic]

5. two major problems, one fixed, the other not.

The first was a leaky, balky and badly designed hydraulic system that needed to adapt to the truly unique characteristics this bird has. Just putting in a long hose is not a solution, not for desert take offs and mountain top landings. At 1/3 of the crashes were due to the hydraulic design and manufacturing problems. After a billion bucks, I suspect that they have found a fix.

The second is a vortex caused by the large props when landing or taking off under certain conditions. If one bird comes close to another, the vortex created by the twin props can and does cause the second plane to lose all airlift. Without airlift, no matter how powerful the engines and how big the props, that hunk of metal flies about as high as Bush's polling numbers and bounces about as high.

This limits how close they can land or take off to each other, (which impacts just how many can land in a hot zone in an emergency) and also limits the time between landings and take-offs. They have had to do a lot of research in fluid mechanics and in wind tunnels to realize just how serious of a limitation this was. A whole new takeoff and landing protocol was created.

It is not completely a failed program, but it was damned expensive for something that cannot be used as advertised - a fast, heavy lift capacity and large people and equipment mover to LZs inside enemy territory, able to deliver large numbers of troops and arms quickly without an airfield. Because of the vortex problem, except in a repeat of Grenada or a remote landing for special forces, this bird will not be used to create large scale invasions or attacks.

Now, the multi-thruster, directional vent, jet-assisted version they have been playing with might actually solve the vortex problem, but it still cannot carry the same numbers of troops or arms. But that will cost 38 billion before they realize that it won't work, either.
Personally, I'm waiting for the flying tank from Sergeant Bilko.

[MADem]

2. It's a piece of shit

The idea is great, but the execution is not up there with the idea. They may not want to tell us "exactly" when they may deploy, but let me tell ya, if the weather sucks, they ain't goin' anywhere but to the barn....

[reprobate]

3. If they're deployed anywhere near sand they'll fall out of the sky like

...lead balloons. IIRC they had big problems with the transfer boxes that equalized thrust between the two engines, and that was needed because depending on one engine not failing was insane.

[leftchick]

4. well that just sucks then

can you think of anyplace our troops are now or in the near future that doesn't include sand?

:(

[daleo]

10. It probably flies great on a drawing board

And it provides great lift to a corporate bottom line.

On edit - Seriously, it seems likely that most military adventures will have to do with oil, and therefore sand will play a prominent role.

[anotherdrew]

6. how many more will die? This thing doesn't seem to work real well n/t

[DS1]

7. And it's actually called Chicken One when Rummy is aboard

[Bozita]

8. If you were on one in Iraq, which would inspire more fear?

Iraqis or the Osprey?

[catnhatnh]

9. The unspoken fact is that they have no choice....

they are running out of choppers thru attrition and production supply is not reaching basic demand....So it is essentially-fly these, or walk!

[MadHound]

11. Great, now Bushco is setting out to deliberately kill our troops

I thought that they finally junked this POS, but I guess not. My question is what in the hell do they need this flying deathtrap for? There isn't some other, more safer aircraft that could do the job? Or is this how they get rid of this damn thing, taking a few troops with them, and being able to write it off in the next budget.

If I was a pilot, I would refuse, I don't care if they threw me into Leavenworth. Better alive there than dead in the sand.

[Az_lefty]

12. Here's a test flight video of a V22...

I wouldn't set foot on one of these things.

http://home.earthlink.net/~redhawk349/Video/V22_osprey_down.wmv

[niallmac]

13. Holy C**p!

[Mithras61]

15. That's a 1991 video. There have been significant changes in the design...

since then. Currently, the single biggest factor is the sand-in-the-gearbox issue mentioned above. I still wouldn't be willing to fly in one, but that's because I think it's important that an aircraft that will fly mostly in sandy areas should be resistant to malfunctions caused by sand. The fact that it's been in development for over 20 years tells me it's another Bradley Fighting Vehicle boondogle.

[president4aday]

14. Turkey's been in development for over 20 years! CYS boondogle?

down the rathole

[IndianaGreen]

16. This is one aircraft that doesn't have to be shotdown!

The Osprey will kill more than enough Marines on its own without the insurgents having to bother with it.

I can't believe that this dangerous aircraft is going to be deployed, it should have been grounded years ago!

[BiggJawn]

17. They ought to re-name the thing "Al Zarqawi"

Because it's gonna kill more Marines than every resistance fighter in Irag.

[TroubleMan]

18. The Osprey is a death trap.

At least when I was in, it was. They need to get rid of it.